1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As electronic devices come to have higher performance or to have larger recording capacity in recent years, the number and the types of information that can be recorded in the electronic devices increase. For example, in a digital steel camera, the capacity of an embedded memory or a memory card increases and more photographed images can be saved. Moreover, the digital steel camera itself become multifunctional and has higher performance and there has appeared a type that also has a use as a portable album or that can access the Internet.
However, in the case where such an electronic device is lost or stolen, the amount of information that is stolen is large. When personal information or private information is recorded in the electronic device, such information has a high risk of being stolen. Accordingly, when such important information is recorded in an electronic device, there is an issue of including in the electronic device a mechanism for protecting the recorded information.
As a technology related to a mechanism for protecting the information recorded within an electronic device, there is a technology of obtaining in advance the identification information (e.g., ID information) of the person who is permitted to use the electronic device. This is a technology in which identification information is read at the time of use, and only when the read identification matches the identification information obtained in advance, the person who has the identification information is permitted to use.
Then, a means using biometric authentication is effective as this means of reading identification information. The biometric authentication includes an authentication method such as fingerprint authentication, vein authentication, voice authentication, retina authentication, face authentication and the like. It is difficult to replicate biometric information, so that high security can be ensured by the biometric authentication. Moreover, since a locking means such as a key does not have to be carried around with an electronic device and authentication is possible without using such locking means, the biometric authentication draws attention in recent years. A technology of digital steel camera using biometric authentication in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-147623, for example.